Globalization’s Impact on the Smaller Things in Life

Culture is one multifaceted concept that has greatly been impacted by this crazy complex phenomenon. While culture can be defined by language, territory, or food, it is in fact a combination of all three. It can be characterized as the way of life of a group of people: the beliefs and institutions of a population that are passed down from generation to generation. Therefore, examining food and cuisine in the United States is one way to show how significantly globalization has affected food, but food is only one aspect of our culture and lives.

The American cuisine is no longer defined by country or region, but rather as a fusion of cuisines. If the Europeans never occupied America, our culture, and especially our cuisine culture, probably would have been completely different. Our cuisine, perhaps, would have been centralized around our natural resources: New England whaling or Mesoamerican bean, maize and squash. Ultimately, it was immigration and global movement that shaped contemporary American cuisine. “From Eastern Europe, Jewish immigrants brought us the bagel, cheesecake, and world-class chicken soup. The Chinese gave us stir-fry, sticky rice, and dim sum. The Japanese taught us to love sushi, sashimi, and tempura.” This fusion of cuisines has helped to define America as a cultural ‘melting pot’ or ‘salad bowl’ of ingredients merged together into a single homogeneous culture.

Everybody Loves Diversity, and Convenience Even More!

Global-ness is so imbedded into our American lives at such a tasteless level that it’s hardly even noticeable. In 2006, Josee Johnston wrote in Appetite, “American culinary nationalism tends to minimize class distinctions and erase the historical divides of race and ethnicity”. The Cheesecake Factory, an American creation, has 200 menu selections including every sort of dish, from Chicken Madeira, Miso Salmon, Cajun Jambalaya Pasta to The Factory Burger. Convenience, accessibility, familiarity whatever the reasons are, people are opting to wait hours for a table at restaurants that can satisfy their palates from the East to the West in one sitting! People are flocking to The Cheesecake Factory, to enjoy an ‘American’ meal brought to them by an American company and not noticing that these small transformations in our lives are all part of this global change that is occurring around us.

We Got No Soul

People are demanding diversity, but with diversity, we are getting unauthentic, Americanized, ethnic food! My colleague, Lisa, just wrote her business proposal on globalizing The Cheesecake Factory, bringing it to Dubai. This trend to globalize companies and large mergers is happening before our eyes and is impacting our day-to-day lives in ways we can’t even see.

American cuisine aspires to become a blend, not emphasizing one ethnicity over the other, which in the end, is unfortunately accused of lacking soul and identity. On the contrary, some scholars may see this blend of ethnicities as the next step in human development. However, this rise of multi-ethnic cuisine in the United States has begun to make its way out of our borders and into major, international cities around the world. Is it wrong to say that the American Cuisine has become the Global Cuisine? Is that just adding on to the notion that the West is culturally invading the rest of the world? Since this multi-ethnic palate was originally an American concept, this new global trend emerging in international cities, can be criticized to be an American idea. Globalization has no longer allowed people to be identified as part of certain countries but rather as a human apart of differing civilizations that blend and overlap.

The Gradual Transformation

Globalization is inevitable, we can’t argue with that. It has affected the world on nearly every level. It has given large companies such as The Cheesecake Factory the ability to serve such a diverse menu to a population with growing demand and popularity. Some of The Cheesecake Factory’s customer base could have never had stepped foot outside America’s borders, but have unconsciously experienced a whole slew of ethnic food that for all they know, may or may not be truly authentic. The Cheesecake Factory is an American product but, just like Starbucks and McDonalds, it could potentially spread worldwide. Therefore, globalization has given scholars plenty of ground to criticize what may create a worldwide, homogenous, “airport culture.” It is an undisputed truth that the world is changing, but whether for better or worse is still unknown. The history of American culture brings insight to the current advancements and trends the restaurant world is making and its subtle integration into a society’s culture.